Love, the Mighty
by shiny silver grl
Summary: no Xena pregnancy, no 25 years on ice, no Joxer death. Takes place after Joxer tells Gabrielle he loves her in Chakram. Gabrielle contemplates her feelings after Joxer's confession, just as Ares complicates matters. COMPLETE.
1. Parts 1-3

  
  
  
Title: Love, the Mighty  
Shipper: Joxer/Gabrielle...with a little Xena/Ares thrown in  
Takes place: a little while after Chakram, when Joxer told Gabby he loved her. No Xena pregnancy, no 25 years on ice, and no Joxer death.   
Plot: After Joxer's confession Gabrielle wonders about her feelings, just as Ares accidentally complicates matters.  
Feedback: Please! This is my first fanfic EVER!  
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, yadda yadda yadda. If I did, I wouldn't be sitting here writing fanfiction :)  
Written: 11/13/00  
  
  
  
  
I.   
  
Ares, the god of War, was not happy. Sure, he had pretty much everything a studly god might want.....lots of skirmishes between the mortals, blood and mayhem, controversy and strife. Ares smiled.....lots of beautiful women striving to be his next warrior queen. His smile faded, however, as he reflected upon them. While the evil in their hearts might have been pure, they all lacked something. They lacked a fire, a passion for the fight that he'd so far only found in one woman. The one woman who'd spurned him; turned away from him. He watched her now, through his portal. A window into her world, where she fought some passing bandits. His blood quickened as she took them down mercilessly, that light burning in her eyes as she did what she did best. As she sliced and parried and gutted, Ares knew that she was perfection. She, and no one else, was a match for him.   
  
His sensual lips curled into a sneer as her blonde friend came into view, fighting at Xena's back. Gabrielle was getting to be just as good as her dark friend in a fight, though Ares had found her just as reluctant to turn to the ways of war. If Gabrielle hadn't come along, Ares might have been able to win Xena back to his side.....but no. It was pointless to dwell upon now. Ares looked on with mild interest as two others entered the fight. He recognized them to be Amarice, the Amazon, and Joxer....the bumbler that occasionally followed Xena and Gabrielle on their journeys. Though Joxer fought badly, he did manage to stop a bandit from stabbing the bard in the back by tripping and falling into him. As they tumbled to the ground, Amarice jumped out of the way, felling two more bandits with two sharp thrusts of her sword. Ares quickly lost interest in her, looking again to Xena, who was like a whirlwind of death. With perfectly honed reflexes, she took out several of the bandits at once. They were no match for her. A waste of her talents. "You should be with me." Ares murmured to her. "What a war we could wage together"   
  
"How long are you going to mope over her, anyway?" a melodic voice inquired. Ares turned to see his sister appear in a flash. Aphrodite stood with her hands on her hips - her filmy, translucent gown swirling around her as she waited for his answer.   
  
Ares snarled at her, but without his usual malice. "I don't know what you're talking about."   
  
"Oh come on," Aphrodite exclaimed, "do you think I just fell off the turnip wagon yesterday? Are you forgetting who I am? I'm the goddess of LOVE, brother dearest, and you can't hide your feelings from me."   
  
Ares barely gave her a glance as he headed away from his portal, toward his throne. "I don't have any feelings to hide, sister dearest, so I still don't know what you're talking about." He plopped into his throne with a sigh of frustration. He really didn't want to talk about this with her.   
  
Aphrodite, never one to go away just because she wasn't wanted - gods no - pursued him. "I'm talking about your fuzzy feelings for Xena, ya big dope! It's no secret that you've been in love with her for years. Also that she won't give you the time of day."   
  
Ares snarled at her for real this time. "I'm NOT in love with her! The god of War has no need or want of love. That's your department. I want her on my side, yes. I may be a little obsessed with her, yes. But having "fuzzy feelings"? Never. And this whole "Way of the Greater Good" is a bunch of crap. She'll see the light sooner or later, and I have nothing but time."   
  
Aphrodite stood silently for a moment, before walking up to her brother and resting a hand on his chest. Playing with his leather tunic, she spoke to him as if he were a child. "Ares, sweetie, you and I both know that this obsession for her is stemmed from your attraction to her. Sure, you think she's a great killing machine, yadda yadda yadda.....but you have to admit that you want her for more than that."   
  
Ares said nothing - and, taking it as encouragement, Aphrodite continued. "You just plain 'want' her. Don't you?" She met his steely gaze and laughed when he still refused to commit himself to it by saying anything. "Okay, okay, I won't make you say it. But I know it's true. So why don't you go after her? Why do you just sit here watching her, and not GET her?"   
  
"Do you think I haven't tried?" Ares shot back. He pushed himself restlessly from his throne and paced. "I've tried every trick in the book. I know she's tempted by what I offer her, but she somehow manages to resist. I know the passion and the fire within her, just waiting to get out and become the Destroyer of Nations again, but she refuses me when I try to fan that flame."   
  
"So maybe you shouldn't try to trick her," Aphrodite remarked. "Why don't you try being honest with her?"   
  
"That would never work," he said, slumping back down into his throne. "And she wouldn't believe me anyway." Clenching his fist, he went on, "It's all her friends' fault. All of them, though Gabrielle's the worst. Distracting her with all of that noble 'way of love' business. If I could just get Gabrielle out of the way, I'm sure I could convince Xena to come to my side."   
  
"Don't," Aphrodite interrupted, "do anything to Gabrielle." At Ares's look she explained. "Gabrielle means the world to Xena. You hurt her, and Xena would never forgive you, much less join you. Besides, I kind of like Gabrielle. No, what you need to do, brother, is tell the truth. Xena's tired of your lies, and games, and trickery. What's more, she's become entirely too accustomed to them, and used to resisting. Try being honest for once. It might throw her off guard."   
  
"Hm," Ares said. "You might have a point about that. The last thing she'd expect from me is the truth."   
  
"And it wouldn't hurt to do something nice for her, either." Aphrodite went on. She frowned, "though I don't know what you could do for her.....I don't think the usual poetry and gifts would do anything for her.....not that you'd ever be capable of writing her poetry, or giving her a gift that wasn't ripped out of some warlord's chest, but I digress. But you've got to do something spectacular. Something that will get her attention, something that will enrich her life somehow, some selfless act, and prove that you've changed."   
  
"Who said I wanted to change?" Ares snapped.   
  
"Nobody," Aphrodite acquiesced with a knowing smile. "But I think you have, even if you don't know it yet. If you were really the cold hearted bastard you pretend to be, you'd have gotten her by now. You'd have forced her to submit to you, or had me intervene and make her love you. But you don't want that, do you?" She smiled Ares as he stewed in silence. "You want her love, because you love her." Aphrodite walked back to the portal that looked in on Xena and gazed in. "Anyway, bro, I gotta split, but give what I said some thought. In any case, stop just sitting in here brooding and watching her, it's kinda pathetic, ya know?" With a backwards laughing glance at him, she vanished.   
  
Ares rose from his throne and made his way to the portal, looking down at Xena as she wiped the blood from her sword in the grass. "I'm not brooding," he said to no one in particular.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
II.   
  
  
  
With an uncharacteristic whine, Amarice complained "But why do I have to take them back?"   
  
"Because I asked you to," Xena said, with considerably less patience than the first two times she'd said it. "It'll be easier that way. You don't really even want to go to the festival, so it makes sense for you to be the one to take these wanted bandits back to Phylon."   
  
"But that was two day's journey back!" the amazon protested.   
  
"And once you've done so, you can take the river and meet us just north of Kritea, after the festival" Xena said, in a tone that broached no argument. Grumbling to herself, Amarice gathered up the few men that had survived their attack upon Xena and the others the night before, and headed out.   
  
"See ya in a few days!" Joxer shouted out, his cheer dampened not at all by her lack of a response. Turning around, Joxer was struck once again with amazement at seeing Gabrielle and Xena alive. Just standing there, packing like nothing had happened. Like they hadn't been crucified, and died on the cross. Like they hadn't been brought back to life by Eli. Like - "   
  
"Joxer!" Gabrielle's voice cut into his thoughts like a knife. "Are you going to pack, or are you going to just stand there and gawk all day?" Her piercing blue eyes froze him in place for a moment, and he could say nothing as he was stunned by her beauty. He knew that there were more beautiful women than Gabrielle, but he also knew that she was the most beautiful to him. And she's alive.......   
  
"Uh, yeah. I mean no. Yes, I'm packing." he stuttered, and stooped to grab his bedroll and pack. Packing his horse, he watched Gabrielle out of the corner of his eye as she packed her own things. He had never been more devastated in his life than when he'd gone to Rome to find Xena and Gabrielle dead. His heart broke with each awful detail he noticed, as they hung on their crosses. Xena, his friend, and Gabrielle - the woman he loved, gone. And for all that sorrow, he'd never been as amazed and overjoyed as he was when Eli somehow miraculously brought them back to life. Suddenly everything else seemed less important, including the worry that she wouldn't feel the same for him as he did for her. So he'd finally told her, before he could lose the chance again.   
  
"I love you........I'm in love with you"   
  
When she looked at him in complete shock, he realized that she had really never known. He'd thought that it would have had to be obvious, but she'd really not had a clue as to how he felt about her. Well, she does now, he thought. And things have been weird, since. But honestly, what did I expect? What could someone like her ever see in someone like me? Suddenly not in as good a mood anymore, Joxer finished his packing and swung up onto his horse, somehow managing to keep his balance after getting his foot caught in the stirrup. Xena and Gabrielle exchanged glances, and mounted their own horses with considerably less difficulty. They headed out.   
  
Joxer took point, while Xena and Gabrielle trailed behind, conversing as they rode leisurely through the forest. "I don't know," Gabrielle continued to Xena, "he said that there were no strings attached. That he didn't expect anything, but obviously he does." Joxer, up ahead, risked a glance at Gabrielle far behind him and got whacked in the back of the head by a low branch his horse rode under. "Ow!" he yelped, rubbing his head where his helmet cut into him.   
  
To Xena, Gabrielle exclaimed, "see!"   
  
"Gabrielle," Xena ventured, "of course he expects something. Wouldn't you, if you told someone that you loved them? You expect them to tell you they feel the same way, or that they don't, but you don't just expect nothing. There has to be some kind of closure, one way or the other. Right now he's just wondering what's going on in your head. He's opened himself up to you, and revealed something very important and private to him, and naturally he wants to know how you feel about it."   
  
"Oh sure, take his side," Gabrielle grumbled.   
  
"This isn't about sides, Gabrielle. He was worried that we were going to die again back there. He wanted more than anything to at least have you know that he loved you first. That in itself," here she looked at Gabrielle meaningfully "is a good thing. It's always nice to know that someone cares about you. The problem now, though, is that we all lived. And now he's wondering how it will affect everything. Your relationship. He feels strange now, probably especially since you've hardly talked to him since."   
  
Beside Argo, Gabrielle's horse breathed deeply, and Gabrielle mimicked it without realizing. "I know. I just don't know what to say to him. I mean, how can I tell him what I'm feeling when even I don't know what I'm feeling?"   
  
Looking back to the trail, Xena said "Well, that's what you've got to figure out."   
  
"Yeah," Gabrielle answered. "I guess so."   
  
  
  
  
  
III.   
  
  
  
Having left Gabrielle and Joxer to set up camp, Xena hunted alone in the dark forest. Suddenly something seemed wrong, however. Something was off. She started to turn back to the camp to check on her friends, but stopped and whirled to face the night behind her. "Will you stop that!" she hissed.   
  
With a smirk, Ares appeared in a flash of blue light. "I love how you do that," he said.   
  
"Yeah well, I hate when you do that." she snapped back. "What do you want, Ares?"   
  
"The same thing I always want," he replied suggestively, "you." At her automatic look of refusal he dropped the seduction act and hastened to add "but no tricks this time, Xena. No jokes, no ruses, no force involved. I'm here to be straight up and honest with you."   
  
"That'd be a first" Xena growled.   
  
"Which is proof, you see? Proof that I'm not the big bad evil god you think I am."   
  
"Not evil?!" Xena started to exclaim in disbelief. "Not evil? Wait a minute, who was it that helped me turn to hate in the first place? Who was it who tried to turn my best friend into the next Destroyer of Nations? Who was it who -- "   
  
"Yeah yeah yeah, I get the picture," Ares held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, so I'm a big bad evil god, already. But that doesn't mean I can't change."   
  
"Oh sure," Xena said mockingly, "You're just harmless bunny rabbit, now."   
  
Flashing a wicked smile, Ares replied "Harmless? Never. Trying to be sincere for once? Yes."   
  
Turning to walk away, Xena said "I'll believe it when I see it."   
  
"Which brings me directly to my point," Ares replied, stepping in front of her again. "What do you want?"   
  
"What?"   
  
"What do you want?" he repeated, "What is one thing that I can give you, at no cost to you. No bargains, no deals, nothing wanted in return. What can I do for you?"   
  
Xena snorted in disbelief. "You can go away".   
  
"Besides that".   
  
Xena laughed. "No, no 'besides that'. You asked what I wanted, and that's what I want."   
  
Ares let a glint of frustration show behind his seductive features. "Come on, Xena. I'm trying to perform a selfless act, here, to prove myself to you, and you're not even giving me a chance."   
  
"'A selfless act?' " Xena mocked. "Where'd you get this from, Aphrodite?"   
  
Ares sputtered. "What! Xena, look, I'm being serious here. I'm giving you the chance of a lifetime."   
  
"And I'm taking it," Xena said empathically, "go away." She jumped in surprise, however, when he actually did, vanishing just as quickly as he'd intruded into her life. "Hmph," she said, and continued to hunt.   
  
* * * *   
  
Not far away, in the same woods, Gabrielle gathered firewood. A sudden flash of blue light startled her, however, and she dropped all of the wood she'd been carrying back to camp. She whirled to see Ares standing behind her with a gloating look in his eyes. "Sorry, Gabrielle, didn't mean to startle you."   
  
"Yeah you did," Gabrielle muttered, as she bent to pick up the wood.   
  
"I want to ask you a question, Gabrielle. About Xena."   
  
"Maybe you should go to Xena, and ask her." Gabrielle replied crossly.   
  
"I just did," Ares said ruefully, "she's not talking to me."   
  
"Good for her."   
  
Ares adopted a different tactic, speaking to Gabrielle in what he hoped was a friendly manner. "Look Gabrielle, I know that you and I got off on the wrong foot."   
  
"Wrong foot!" Gabrielle interrupted incredulously. "Is that what you call it when you form an alliance with Dahok and impregnate my half demon daughter?"   
  
Ares spread his hands in a gesture of compliance. "All bad things, true. But there was some heavy stuff going down, and I just wanted to make sure I came out on top, I'm sure you can understand." At Gabrielle's disgusted look, he went on. "But look, my point is, I want to change."   
  
Gabrielle stifled a laugh "yeah right"   
  
"I mean it. That's why I'm here. I want to do something to prove to Xena how I've changed. That I don't want to hurt her anymore, and that I lo--, that I care for her. Look, would you quit laughing? I'm serious."   
  
Gabrielle managed to stop laughing, and asked "so what do you want from me?"   
  
Ares paced. "Well, she won't talk to me. She won't tell me what she wants. How am I supposed to prove anything to her if she won't let me?"   
  
Gabrielle thought. "Well, the first thing I'd say is that if she really doesn't want anything from you, you should respect that. In a way, that will prove something to her. That you respect her wishes."   
  
"But that's not enough," Ares said. "I don't want to just sit there while she's thinking 'Okay, well he didn't do anything, maybe he's not such a bad guy after all'.... It's not gonna happen." In a moment of what seemed to be candor, amazingly to Gabrielle, he said "I've done a lot to hurt her. I need to do something proactive to win back her trust."   
  
Struck by his honesty, Gabrielle responded in kind. "If you're serious, then maybe you should think about helping other people. I mean, don't forget that that's what Xena's devoted to, now. Perhaps you can show her how you feel by helping others."   
  
"Hm," Ares murmured. "Not a bad idea." He looked at Gabrielle. "So, what do you want?"   
  
"Oh no!" Gabrielle backed away quickly, almost dropping her firewood again. "Not me! I don't trust you, I don't like you, and I don't want anything from you."   
  
Ares smiled at her, grasping her shoulder. "Well, some things never change, right Gabrielle?" Just then, Joxer stumbled through the foliage.   
  
"Gabby, the camp's all ready, do you need any help with the woo---" Stopping in shock, Joxer took in Gabrielle's guilty expression, Ares's smile, and his hand on her shoulder. "Oh." Backtracking quickly, Joxer mumbled "sorry," and disappeared through the bushes.   
  
"Joxer wait! I.... " Gabrielle called out after him, then stopped. That was useless. What could she say to him? Oh Joxer, it wasn't what it looked like. Ares was just telling me what a good guy he is now, and how he wants to change, and help people, because he's in love with Xena. Yeah, like he'd believe that! Suddenly, she stopped and thought wait a minute, why do I care, anyway?   
  
Looking back to Ares, she found that he had disappeared. Typical.   
  
* * * *   
  
Stumbling off away from the camp, Joxer grappled with what he had just seen. HIS Gabrielle, practically in the arms of that ....that.....God. Waves of jealousy arced through him, followed quickly by despair. Of course she'd rather be with someone like him than me, he thought. He's strong, and powerful, and good looking, and I'm weak, and I can't even fight very well, much less command legions!   
  
In his haze, he tripped over a log and tumbled to the ground. Stupid! he thought, as he picked himself up and sat on a stump nearby. Stupid to tell her how you felt! How could you even think you might have a chance with her?! She probably thinks you're an idiot!   
  
He sat there morosely for awhile, before realizing that he was being watched. He looked up to find Ares watching him from across the trail. "Boy you've got it bad, don't you?" he said to Joxer with amusement.   
  
"Go away," Joxer said hollowly. "you got what you came for; leave me alone."   
  
"On the contrary," Ares said, swaggering closer to Joxer, "I don't have what I want at all. But I have an idea that might help me get it."   
  
Joxer got as close to growling as he could ever come, saying "Well you can take your idea elsewhere, because I am sure not gonna help you get Gabrielle."   
  
"Gabrielle!?!" Ares exploded in astonishment. "I don't want Gabrielle!"   
  
Joxer looked up again in sudden hope. "You ..... you don't?"   
  
"Gods, no" Ares replied with a genuine laugh. "I like my women with a streak of viciousness in them!"   
  
Joxer breathed a sigh of relief before realizing that this didn't really change his relationship with Gabrielle, at all, and sighed again. Ares picked up on it and continued, "You know Joxer, you and I have something in common." At the would-be warrior's doubtful look, Ares hastened to finish. "Not much, naturally, but something in common nonetheless. You see, we both desire the affections of women who don't want to have anything to do with us."   
  
Looking at Joxer's pieced-together armor, and naturally confused expression, Ares explained: "See, my problem is that I'm too much for Xena. Too overbearing. I want too much, and she can't give it because.......well, basically because she doesn't like me. You, on the other hand, have just the opposite problem. You're awkward, bumbling, and clumsy. You're a joke of a romantic interest, and that's why Gabrielle can't see you that way."   
  
Joxer slumped even more than he already was. "And this is supposed to make me feel better how?" he muttered.   
  
"In this," Ares proclaimed, in the manner of someone who has just discovered a great secret. "I can solve both our problems at once."   
  
Joxer looked up at him halfheartedly. "How?"   
  
Ares sneered at Joxer. "Perhaps you have forgotten that I'm related to none other than the Goddess of Love herself? One little favor for me, and Gabrielle's in love with you."   
  
"No," Joxer interrupted, shaking his head. "No spells. I don't want Gabrielle like that. I don't want her to love me because someone clouded her judgment, I want her to love me. Besides," he went on with what might have been a touch of amusement, "Aphrodite's spells and me don't mix very well."   
  
"Well then," Ares thought furiously, "there must be some other way I can improve your situation."   
  
"Why are you trying to help me, anyway?" Joxer asked tentatively.   
  
"Because, my dimwitted friend, if I help you with your little problem, and I gain nothing from it, Xena will see that I'm not entirely evil, and will stop being so difficult to reason with. So......what do you want? What do you think would make things better?"   
  
Looking as if he thought this was all a big joke that Ares and the rest of the gods were pulling on him, Joxer thought about it. The reason Gabrielle doesn't love me is because I'm a dolt. I'm incapable, incompetent, and in general a big klutz. She can't even see me in any light but that. I need to change the way she sees me.   
  
"I need to change the way she sees me," he said aloud. "I need to somehow show her that I can do amazing things, too, and win her respect."   
  
"But the way you are, you can't." Ares stated. "So it sounds like what you need is a total overhaul on what makes you you."   
  
"I guess so," Joxer said, bowing his head in defeat.   
  
"Okay," Ares clapped his hands together loudly, "all is not lost. You just need an incentive. You need some spirit. You need a spirit. And I can get one for you."   
  
Joxer looked confused. "What do you mean?"   
  
"Alright, look. You're pretty much a washout the way you are. You can't fight, you're clumsy as all Tartarus, and you're not exactly what I would call powerful. So you need something that makes you be able to have all of that."   
  
"What do you think I should do?" Joxer asked, with a twinge of hope.   
  
"I think what you should let me do, is give you some spirit." Ares answered, and stepped back from Joxer.   
  
"Um, wait a minute," Joxer started as the wind picked up around him. "Uh, what are you gonna do?"   
  
Ares didn't answer as lightening began to flash, and the wind suddenly beat at them from all sides. The leaves of the trees above them swished madly, and small creatures ran from the onslaught of whipping branches and falling trees. Joxer cringed into himself as a red light built up in between him and the god of War, and yelled out once more "Ares!"   
  
Suddenly the light swirled into a sphere, and headed right for Joxer. He yelled out, but it never slowed and slammed into his chest, being absorbed by his body. The wind died down almost immediately, and the night returned to normal as Joxer looked up at Ares in bewilderment. He felt sick. "What did you do?" he whispered.   
  
Ares grinned. "I opened your mind to the ether and summoned the most powerful personality I touched upon. It will make you stronger, faster, and smarter. It will make you what you're not."   
  
As the personality that Ares had summoned started to take over Joxer's mind, he recognized it. "Oh no," he breathed, falling off of the log he was sitting on, "Gabri-.... Gab-!"   
  
Startled by Joxer's sudden change, Ares watched him lose consciousness and slide to the ground. "Well," he remarked to himself, "must have been one hell of a spirit!" He watched as Joxer regained consciousness, and stood. He could tell that it wasn't exactly Joxer in there anymore when he spoke.   
  
"Ares," the thing that was not Joxer said. Even though it spoke using Joxer's voice, there was something deadly and menacing about it, which the god of war recognized.   
  
"Who are you?" he asked.   
  
Joxer's face smiled, but his eyes remained dead. "You know me," it said, and Ares was suddenly assailed by visions of himself communing with Hope, with Callisto, with ..   
  
"Dahok?!"   
  
The evil presence now within Joxer smiled again, and turned to leave, giving Ares not a second glance. He stood there alone on the trail, and thought. "Well that didn't turn out exactly as I'd planned it," he said to himself. He then shrugged and turned away, vanishing.   
  
  
To be continued................  
  
  
  
  



	2. Parts 4-6

  
  
  
Title: Love, the Mighty, parts 4-6  
Shipper: Joxer/Gabrielle...with a little Xena/Ares thrown in  
Takes place: a little while after Chakram, when Joxer told Gabby he loved her. No Xena pregnancy, no 25 years on ice, and no Joxer death.   
Plot: After Joxer's confession Gabrielle wonders about her feelings, just as Ares accidentally complicates matters.  
Feedback: Please! This is my first fanfic EVER!  
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, yadda yadda yadda. If I did, I wouldn't be sitting here writing fanfiction :)  
Written: 11/13/00  
  
  
  
  
  
IV.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Back at camp, Gabrielle and Xena discussed their late-night visitor. "I don't know Xena," Gabrielle was saying as she skinned the rabbit her friend had caught, "he seemed kind of sincere to me."  
  
  
"Gabrielle, Ares wouldn't know Sincere if it jumped up and bit him in the a ---- Oh, hi Joxer. We were wondering where you went."  
  
  
At Xena's words, Gabrielle looked up to see Joxer settling down beside the fire. She scanned his face to see what he might be feeling, but could discern nothing from his expression. That was sort of surprising to her, as Joxer usually was so easy to read.   
  
  
Apparently he's not, you idiot, she thought. If it was so easy to tell what he's thinking, don't you think you might have stumbled onto the fact that he was in love with you a long time ago? No, he's either a much better actor than you ever thought he could be, or else you, Gabrielle, are completely blind. "Joxer, are you okay?" she asked.  
  
  
Joxer turned to her, and Gabrielle was taken aback at just how expressionless he really was. A moment later she almost wished for that non-expression back when he smiled chillingly at her. "Gabrielle," he said slowly, the word rolling smoothly off his tongue like ale. Gabrielle felt cold all of the sudden, and wondered why he was staring at her the way he was. She looked at Xena, and saw that she was watching Joxer curiously.   
  
  
"Hey," Xena said to Joxer, "You feel alright?"  
  
  
Joxer's head turned slowly to look at Xena, and he smiled again. "Never better," he said in that same, flat, eerie voice. Suddenly, however, an expression of unutterable sadness crossed his face. He opened his mouth as if to speak, and looked at Gabrielle.   
  
  
"Joxer, what is it?" Gabrielle asked, rising to her feet at the look of absolute sorrow and horror on his face. "What's wrong?" But he didn't answer. Instead the icy veneer of impassion settled over his face again, and with a touch of anger he rose and stalked to his horse. Ignoring inquiries from both of the women, he approached the animal and attempted to mount it. It shied away from him, and with a savage jerk he brought it under his command, swinging himself on top of the horse in one, fluid motion. Broken and afraid, it followed his direction and headed away from the campsite, without Joxer ever once having looked back or explained himself. In complete bafflement, Gabrielle and Xena stared at each other across the fire.   
  
  
* * * *  
  
  
In the village of Kritea, the chanting of priests filled the temple.....rising in pitch and fervor until with a sudden wind the doors slammed open. Gusts of air flew in, snuffing the candles and overturning sacrifices left to the god Dahok. The priests looked to the doorway in fear and fascination as the living embodiment of Dahok entered the temple, smiling cruelly. "Come," he said in a voice that struck terror into the hearts of all the men who heard it, "we have much to prepare for."  
  
  
* * * *  
  
  
  
  
The next morning Gabrielle and Xena rode on toward Kritea.  
  
  
"He just looked so, so, not-Joxer," Gabrielle continued, hunting for the right words. "I mean, he looked completely expressionless until the end there, and then he was actually kind of frightening!"  
  
  
"I know," Xena agreed. "But I don't know how much we should worry about it. Maybe he just needed some time to be alone, and went on to the Festival ahead of us."   
  
  
"I hope so," Gabrielle said. "But I'm still worried. I mean, first he tells me he loves me, then he gets all weird when he sees Ares and me together, and then he comes back to the camp looking like he's seen a ghost. He's acting so strangely."  
  
  
"Well look at it from his perspective," Xena reasoned. "Everything's been really hard on him, too. First we die, then we're brought back to life, and now things are back to normal; it's got to be a lot for him to adjust to."  
  
  
"Yeah, you're right." Gabrielle said. "I just hope he's okay." They rode that way in silence for a moment before Gabrielle realized Xena was looking at her strangely. "What?" she asked finally.  
  
  
"Just wondering about the source of your worrying." Xena replied, resuming her watch of the trail in front of her.   
  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Gabrielle demanded.  
  
  
"I just mean that it's got to be strange to be told one day that someone you've known for years has been in love with you the whole time."  
  
  
"Not the whole time," Gabrielle responded, "I got the impression that this was a recent thing."  
  
  
"Well you were impressed incorrectly," Xena said with amusement. "he's loved you almost for as long as we've known him."  
  
  
"No he hasn't!"   
  
  
"Yes he has."  
  
  
"Has not."  
  
  
"Gabrielle.do you remember when Cupid's kid Bliss ran around zapping everyone with Cupid's arrows, and you fell in love with Joxer?"  
  
  
Gabrielle regarded Xena warily, "yeah"  
  
  
"That's the first time I can remember Joxer being in love with you." Xena answered.  
  
  
Gabrielle was stunned. "That can't be true. Xena that was like, three years ago! Besides, I thought he was hit with one of the arrows too?"  
  
  
Xena shook her head ruefully. "You, not him. He was crushed when you laughed about it afterwards."  
  
  
Guilt and sorrow rushed in on Gabrielle. "Oh Gods, that must have hurt him terribly! Why didn't you tell me?"  
  
  
"It wasn't my secret to tell." Xena replied. She then looked at her blonde companion, "So, now that you know.what are you gonna do about it?"  
  
  
Gabrielle sighed, at a loss. " I don't know, Xena. I mean, I've always looked at Joxer as a goofy older brother-type. I never even thought about him romantically, other than the time I was under that spell. Well, and the time HE was under APHRODITE's spell. But those times don't count. But......."  
  
  
At her friend's silence, Xena looked over to see Gabrielle lost in thought. "But what?" she prodded.   
  
  
Gabrielle snapped into focus. "I don't know. I mean, I have to admit that there's something in this situation that appeals to the Bard in me. You know, the would-be warrior in love with the farm-girl. And, and I mean there really isn't anybody else like Joxer in the world, you know that!" she laughed. "And he does have his moments. He may be clumsy, and not really cut out for this kind of life, but I can't even tell you how many times he's impressed me with his bravery. Remember that time he put himself on the line to defend Argo from you when you were in Callisto's body? Facing what he thought was certain death, he still wouldn't abandon your horse. That takes heart, Xena."  
  
  
"Yes it does," Xena agreed with a smile. "yes it does. But do YOU have the heart?"  
  
  
Gabrielle met her companion's eyes. "I don't know," she answered honestly. "A few days ago I would have said no, beyond a doubt. But now.......I'm not so sure. And I can't figure out what's changed."  
  
  
"Maybe nothing's changed," Xena answered. "Maybe all you needed was to see."  
  
  
* * * *  
The village of Kritea was damned, the people there just didn't know it yet. The dark god Dahok looked out over the village through his newly acquired human eyes, and smiled. They were all his sacrifices, though they were as yet unaware. By nightfall, however, they would learn. A disturbance in the energy behind him made him aware of the approach of one of his priests. He turned to meet him, and recognized him. The fool's name was Marcus. He was a sniveling excuse for a minion of Dahok, and was not a true believer. Dahok could sense it in him, even as the idiot opened his mouth. "Lord Dahok," he said, but the reverence was not there in his voice, where it should have been. "Lord Dahok, I'm not sure that this is the best idea." He stammered a bit when the god looked at him, but his own pride and wilfillness bolstered him and he continued. "Some of the villagers will resist. They do not believe."   
  
  
Dahok felt a swell of anger rise up within him, aching to be released. He took the priest by the throat and squeezed, feeling how easy it would be to kill the man in this manner. But no........perhaps a demonstration for any other misbelievers. Almost gently he released the priest, and the mortal slumped to the floor, gasping for air. With the utmost care, Dahok helped the man to rise, and took his hand. "Forgive me, faithful servant," he said in sarcasm, "I don't know my own strength when I am angered." Using only the touch of their hands, Dahok sent a surge of power and energy through the man. To the other priests, it appeared as though their fellow was cooking alive where he stood. Indeed, this was not far from the truth. When all the life had been wrung from his prey, Dahok dropped the corpse to the floor where it was quickly removed by his comrades. Looking up, the god spoke to the rest of the mortals. "I WILL have my sacrifices. The village WILL be prepared. You know my will. Should anyone question me further, he will suffer a hundredfold what this man did."   
  
  
The priests said nothing, but bowed low in their acceptence of his will. They backed away to continue their preperations, and Dahok turned again to gaze out over the village.  
  
  
* * * *  
  
  
The moon was full in the night sky by the time Xena and Gabrielle reached Kritea. On the outskirts of the village, they saw peasants scurrying to and fro with last minute supplies for the festival. Dismounting, the women led the horses to the water trough in front of the pub and then headed toward the heart of the village. They could hear festive music as they got closer, and the sounds of many people talking all at once. Just as the dais set up in the clearing at the center of the village came into view, however, Xena stopped in her tracks, tense. "We're not alone," she said.   
  
  
On cue, Ares flashed into existence next to them. "I wouldn't advise attending the festival tonight, ladies."  
  
  
Xena's lip curled. "I guess it's a good thing nobody asked you, then."  
  
  
Ares adopted none of his usual bantering mannerisms as he spoke, "This is serious, Xena. You don't want to be here. Go back, get your horses, and leave........before it's too late."  
  
  
Gabrielle, perhaps alerted by his urgent manner, asked, "Too late for what? What's going on?"  
  
  
"More than YOU want to deal with, especially." Ares answered vaguely, and made as if to usher them back the way they came.   
  
  
"Wait a minute," Gabrielle protested, "what does THAT mean, more than I want to deal with? Wait- we can't leave anyway, we've got to find Joxer."  
  
  
Suddenly a scream rent the air behind them, and they all three whirled toward the dais. "I don't think he's going to be hard to find," Ares breathed, and Gabrielle gasped at what they saw. On and around the dais was a circle of priests dressed in long red and black robes. They had arranged an alter on the stage, and upon it was a child, struggling feebly at the bonds that held it there. To one side of the dais there was a large group of children being held in a cage by more of the men in robes. The scream had come from the first villager to see the scene, and now more voices rose in fear and protest. In front of the child on the altar was another person in a pure black robe, and the identity of that person was chillingly clear.   
  
  
"Joxer?" Xena said incredulously. She spun on Ares, "What did you do to him?" she demanded.  
  
  
"Nothing he didn't want," Ares replied. "He wanted to be stronger, smarter, more powerful. I made him all of those things."  
  
  
"He's going to sacrifice those children!" Gabrielle whispered, horrified. "That's not Joxer. Whatever you did to him, that's not Joxer!"  
  
  
"You're half right," Ares said. "He's there, but as the weaker personality he's subdued. He probably knows what's going on, but has no control over it. The demon within him has dominance."  
  
  
"Demon within him?" Xena demanded. "What demon? What exactly did you do?"  
  
  
Ares squirmed as much as a god could squirm without moving a muscle. "He basically needed a new personality. I mean, let's face it, the guy's got some problems." At Xena's impatient look, he got to the point. "I opened him to the ether. I made him receptive to the plane that gods and demons exist on, and one was drawn to him. It made him what he is now. Only........."  
  
  
"Only what?" Xena insisted.  
  
  
Ares looked grave, and watched Gabrielle as he spoke. "Only I didn't know which entity would be drawn to him. I didn't know it would be........Dahok."  
  
  
A strangled cry came from Gabrielle's throat, and Xena reached out to steady her friend as she seemed to sway. Ares seemed to be genuinely apologetic when he spoke to her. "Gabrielle, I swear I didn't know. But I think it makes sense now.......Dahok must have been drawn to Joxer because he could sense you through him. I'm sorry, I......."  
  
  
"Save your apology," Xena spat out. "Why don't you try un-doing it?"  
  
  
"I can't," Ares said. "Dahok's too powerful for that. There's nothing I can do."  
  
  
Gabrielle managed to regain control, but her tone conveyed contempt as she spoke, "I swear by all the gods, if Joxer dies, I'll find some way to make you pay for it, Ares."  
  
  
Suddenly cries rose in the night, and the trio watched as Dahok manipulated Joxer's body to raise a ceremonial dagger high above the child, ready for the plunge.  
  
  
"Xena!" Gabrielle cried.   
  
  
Xena had reached for her chakram and thrown it at the dais before the thought had consciously even reached her mind. It spun through the air at speed and struck the dagger from Joxer's fist, returning to Xena's upraised hand within sheer moments. Joxer's dead eyes followed the chakram's path back to its owner, and he smiled an evil smile when he saw the blonde woman standing next to her. "Gabrielle," he said with pleasure.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
V.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Gabrielle's blood froze when he looked at her. Though she was too far away to hear him, she saw his lips form her name through the arrogant smirk on his face. To see that expression on Joxer's face was horrifying. In her shock, it was a full moment before she realized that the priests from the dais were rushing toward her. Xena took up a fighting stance next to her, and yelled for Gabrielle to get ready to fight. But all Gabrielle could do was focus on Joxer, and the child on the dais with him, that Dahok was set upon killing. As Xena let out her bloodcurdling warrior's cry, Gabrielle took off at a sprint for the dais.   
  
  
Xena screamed Gabrielle's name as she saw her friend disappear into the onrushing slew of armed priests, but could spare no further thought as the madness was suddenly upon her. Xena fought, cutting and parrying, and realized.......with no small amount of surprise.......that Ares was fighting alongside her, protecting her flank. Robed men fought, and died, and went down........and still they came.   
  
  
Gabrielle ran toward the dais. She pushed past screaming villagers, and running priests in her thoughtless storm on the stage. A snarling priest thought to stop her, but was sorely disappointed when Gabrielle without a second's thought took his staff from him, knocked him out, and kept running. Nearing the rise, she used the priest's staff as a pole vault, leaping onto the dais. Heaving, she faced the evil demon within Joxer. Terrified of this particular god, she nonetheless had to try to save her friend. "Joxer," she said.  
  
  
"Not Joxer," Dahok replied, and lashed out at her. They fought, and Gabrielle tried to draw him away from the child on the altar. She spoke to try to distract him.   
  
  
"Joxer, it's me, Gabrielle. I know you're still in there somewhere. You've got to try to fight, Joxer. You've got to stop this."  
  
  
Dahok laughed as he blocked her attack. "That mortal is gone. He can do nothing to stop this. You cannot reach him."  
  
  
"I don't believe you," Gabrielle replied.   
  
  
"He was not nearly strong enough to keep me out. He was weak."  
  
  
"He's strong enough to stop YOU!" Gabrielle asserted, "I know you're in there, Joxer. I need your help."   
  
  
"You know this is perfect," Dahok said with malice, continuing his barrage, "with you being my victim again. The first sacrifice of a hundred that I will have this night, opening the portal to my dimension." With an evil leer, he said "I've missed you so, Gabrielle!" Grunting with the effort of resisting Dahok's blows, Gabrielle fell back.   
  
  
Several hundred feet away, Xena shouted to Ares amidst the fighting. "She needs help! She can't handle Dahok on her own!"  
  
  
"I can't leave you, there are too many of them!" Ares shouted back, zapping priests left and right. "Let me get you out of here!"  
  
  
"No!" Xena yelled. "If you really want to do something to help, why don't you get those children out!"  
  
  
Ares looked at the cage the children were being held in next to the dais, and zapped the lock with his powers, bursting the door open. Children started running out, screaming.   
  
  
On the dais, Gabrielle saw the children escaping, and was distracted for a moment. A moment was all Dahok needed. Gabrielle barely saw the fireball coming, and jumped out of the way only at the last moment. It exploded while she was still in motion, and she landed with a thud on wooden planks of the dais. She looked back at Dahok. As she stared at the hatred and malice in Joxer's face, she realized how blind she had been all this time. In that moment, everything became crystal clear. The evil in Joxer's eyes completely replaced the love that Gabrielle now knew had been there for her before. In that moment, Gabrielle knew what she might very well have lost. In that moment, she knew she loved Joxer. As he raised his hand to point at her, Gabrielle knew he was about to kill her. She also knew she had no way to get away from the blast that would be coming. She called up all of her newfound realizations, and love she felt for her gentle friend, and called his name, "Joxer!"  
  
  
Mere feet away, Dahok stopped. He seemed almost confused for a moment, and then the confusion on his face was replaced by fear and concern, and great concentration. Gabrielle suddenly knew that it was Joxer's true face she was seeing. "Gabrielle!" he said haltingly, but with urgency, "Gabby I can't stop him, run........please!"  
  
  
"Joxer," Gabrielle breathed, pushing herself up off the floor. "Joxer, yes you can. You can do it. I'm here, I'm right here. Just focus on me and you can fight it." She held out her hand, and Joxer started to reach for it. Suddenly all of the expression in his face melted away, and was replaced by that cold hate again, and Gabrielle yanked her hand back. She watched as Dahok seemed to struggle with himself.......no, she thought, he's struggling with Joxer.......before regaining control. Using the distraction, Gabrielle found the dagger that had been knocked to the floor earlier. Turning quickly to the altar, she cut the bonds that held the child tied there. It bolted from the dais, and then it was just the two of them. The god and his victim. "I know you can do this Joxer. You can fight him because you have to. You have to come back to me, I care about you," Gabrielle tried again.  
  
  
"Lies," Dahok spat. "I know his mind, I can see clearly what you are to him. Who you are to him. For all of your posturing, you're nothing more than a spineless, selfish woman who cares nothing for this mortal. You are cruel to him, and must confess that you care nothing about whether he lives or dies."  
  
  
"That's not true," Gabrielle whispered. "That's not what he thinks."  
  
  
"Isn't it?" the god sneered. And with that he attacked her anew. Falling back under his rain of blows, Gabrielle was astounded at how strong he was. Obviously Dahok had more control of Joxer than just his mind. In one swift move, Dahok grabbed her wrist and broke it, twisting it back until she heard it snap. In pain, she dropped the dagger she'd used to free the child, and Dahok scooped it up. The next thing Gabrielle knew she was pushed back against the altar; her feet still on the floor, but she was bent backward on its flat surface. Dahok stood against her, holding the dagger high against the night sky behind him. "You know Gabrielle, this really is an honor. You will be the first. Your death will herald my coming on this earth. Your demise will mark the slaughter of millions." With that the arm holding the dagger poised to strike.  
  
  
"Joxer, I love you!" Gabrielle cried. The plea contained all of her love, all of her anguish, and all of her woe in one voice, and it stopped the dagger in mid-plunge. Gabrielle watched the horrible play of emotions cross Joxer's face: anger, consternation, fear, concern, struggle for control. Finally, Joxer. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He looked down at her with tortured eyes, but seemed unable to drop the dagger, or step away from her. The dagger moved, seemingly of its own volition, toward Gabrielle's throat, as Joxer managed to make a few sounds. "Gabri.......Gabrielle." the word was torn from Joxer's throat, and his expression reflected his fear for her. "Gabrielle run!"  
  
  
"No," Gabrielle said, and she stood facing him, "No I won't leave you. Fight him Joxer. You can do it, I know you can."  
  
  
Despite her pleas, Joxer appeared to start losing control. Begging Gabrielle to run away, he stumbled back from her, trying to get as far away from her as he could........but she followed him. Desperate not to lose control and hurt her, Joxer turned the dagger toward himself.   
  
  
"No!" Gabrielle cried, and rushed to him, knocking the dagger out of his grasp. It flew across the dais and dropped off the edge. Taking one last step, Gabrielle leaned into Joxer and brought her good hand up around the back of his head. Pulling his face down to her, she kissed him........feeling him tremble beneath her touch. The trembling grew more pronounced until he suddenly threw her away, and fell to the floor with a cry. A brilliant light surrounded him, and Gabrielle had to shield her eyes from the glare. A wind sprang up out of nowhere, and blew through their hair and clothes wildly as the sound of the wind deafened them. In the middle of the maelstrom, Joxer howled as the struggle for his soul went on inside him.   
  
  
Xena braced for another onslaught that never came. The priests who were still standing had stopped attacking, and were watching the dais. Not coming out of her defensive posture, she looked to the dais and saw Joxer enveloped in a blinding light on the floor.......Gabrielle in a similar position not far away from him. Suddenly the light convalesced, swirling into a red sphere above the dais. It hovered there for a moment, then shot up into the sky, leaving the clearing lit only by the moonlight and candles once more. The priest immediately in front of Xena turned back to her, and Xena prepared to resume fighting. Suddenly the priest whirled around, however, and ran the other way, out of town. His fellows following suit, Xena found herself with no one left to fight. Sheathing her sword, she turned to Ares. Just as she opened her mouth, he looked at her with an innocent expression, and vanished. Xena looked back toward the dais.  
  
  
On the floor, Gabrielle crawled over to where Joxer lay slumped in a heap. She cradled his head in her lap, and made sure he was still alive. Groaning weakly, his eyes fluttered open. "Gabrielle?" he asked.  
  
  
"I'm here, Joxer," Gabrielle said softly. "I'm right here."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
VI.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
After Xena bandaged the bard's broken wrist, Gabrielle took the first watch over Joxer that night. After his semi-consciousness on the dais, he had slipped back into a deep sleep that he couldn't be wakened from, and they rented two rooms at the local inn to stay in for the night. Xena headed off to her room, and Gabrielle stayed with Joxer. While she sat with him she kept wondering how things would be, and she felt afraid that it was too late. That Dahok was right, that Joxer had finally wised up and realized just how selfish she really was. Gabrielle couldn't believe that this whole time he'd loved her so much.....so much that he would try to take his own life rather than let Dahok hurt herand she hadn't even known, much less cared. Sitting at his bedside, holding his hand, Gabrielle whispered "You're too good for me.."  
  
  
When the time came, Gabrielle changed places with Xena, and went to lie down in the other bedroom. Tossing and turning; unable to sleep, she left the bed early and opened the door to Joxer's room. Xena looked up, and shook her head at Gabrielle's expression. No change yet. Grabbing her pack and heading downstairs, Gabrielle decided that since she couldn't sleep she might as well go out and get some breakfast and supplies. The villagers were all out and about already as well, acting as if their children hadn't almost been massacred by a crazed god the night before. They bartered and sold and bought and shopped, and Gabrielle took a deep breath of the normalcy. She'd gotten everything they needed, and was almost back to the inn when voice cried out ahead of her.   
  
  
"Gabby!"  
  
  
Looking up, Gabrielle saw Joxer standing in front of the inn he'd just run from. He started toward her, and Gabrielle dropped everything as she ran to him. They met in a fierce hug, and Gabrielle breathed his name into his shirt. Pulling back a little, she looked into his eyes and asked "Joxer, are you alright?" even as she saw that he was. His brown eyes were soft, and shone with his own unique spirit. He was okay.   
  
  
Joxer grinned momentarily. "Yeah, I've just got one heluva hangover!" Taking in her bandaged wrist, his smile faded immediately. "I did that," he said in a pained voice. "I broke your wrist."  
  
  
"No Joxer," Gabrielle said as he gingerly enveloped her hurt hand in his two. "It wasn't you, it was Dahok. You saved me. He tried to kill me, but you stopped him."  
  
  
Joxer's distressed eyes rose from her wrist and met hers again. "But........"  
  
  
"No," Gabrielle interrupted. "You saved my life, Joxer." Seeing his discomfort ease a little, she attempted to change the subject. "So how much do you remember, anyway?"  
  
  
"Everything," he answered, the disgust evident on his face. "From the moment he took me over I had no control. It was like, I could still see and hear and feel, but couldn't stop what he was doing. I could even feel what he was feeling. He was glad when you showed up at the festival. He wanted.......he wanted" Joxer broke off, unable to continue.   
  
  
Gabrielle touched his face with her good hand. "It's okay," she said to him.  
  
  
Joxer continued. "I remember fighting you, and almost killing you. And then I remember you saying.......you said that you loved me."  
  
  
Gabrielle smiled. "Yes," she said. Good, he remembered. Her smile faded as Joxer continued speaking, however.  
  
  
"And I know that you said that because you knew it was maybe the only thing that would stop Dahok, and that's okay. That's okay because you were right. It gave me the strength I needed to stop him. I know you don't really........I mean, I know you don't love, uh...........I know you don't feel that way."  
  
  
Gabrielle looked up at him earnestly and said "But I do". At his startled look, she smiled again. A big, beautiful smile full of realization and happiness. " I do, Joxer. I love you."  
  
  
He stared at her, stunned, until she tried to kiss him. Snapped out of his wonder, he stuttered "A spell! You're under a spell again! Like when Bliss shot you with that arrow! And you only THINK you're in love with me!" As Gabrielle tried to interrupt, Joxer continued, almost to himself. "It's okay Gabby, don't worry. We'll just go get Xena, and we'll figure out what's gotten into you, and we'll fix it." He took her good arm and began to lead her back to the inn.   
  
  
"Joxer, will you stop!" Gabrielle yelled, disengaging herself from his grip and facing him again. "I'm not under any spell, I haven't been shot with any arrows, and I've been an idiot for the past three years!" Gabrielle enunciated her point by grabbing hold of him and pressing her lips against his, kissing him firmly.   
  
  
After she let go of him, Joxer stared at her, stunned again, and it was several moments before gather his wits enough to speak properly. "But, but Gabrielle.........that's not possible. What could someone.......someone like you possibly see in someone like me? I'm clumsy, I can't fight very well, I'm not as smart as you........"  
  
  
Gabrielle interrupted him again. "And you're sweet, and kind, and funny, and a loyal friend to a fault, Joxer."  
  
  
"But I'm nobody," Joxer said. "When people look at me they see a bumbling fool."  
  
  
Gabrielle smiled again. "Joxer when I look at you do you want to know what I see? I see someone who has been there for me every time I've ever needed a friend. Who has been there to try and comfort and console me as best he could. I see someone who has shown his bravery and loyalty to me countless times. Joxer, this is what I mean when I say I've been an idiot. From the very first time we met, you've done nothing but show me what a good person you are. When Callisto ordered you to kill me, you defied her, even knowing that she was going to order you killed for it."  
  
  
Joxer started to interrupt, but Gabrielle continued empathetically. "When Xena came after me when I was in the purification hut, it was you who tried to save me. You tried to carry me away from her, even knowing how badly Xena would hurt you if you got in her way. You stood up to her for me."  
  
  
Joxer held up his index finger. "The operative word there was 'tried'. I couldn't save you, Xena got to you."  
  
  
Gabrielle took his hand, holding it in her own. "It was YOU who saved me last night when Dahok tried to kill me. Against unbelievable odds, you beat him, and kept him from killing me."  
  
  
Joxer looked at Gabrielle silently, not quite daring to hope. He trembled a little as she touched his face lightly with her broken hand and gazed into his eyes, but resisted not at all as she tilted her face up to his and kissed him again. Hesitant at first, Joxer gradually warmed to her kiss as his disbelief faded, and his arms encircled her as she leaned into him. When she broke the kiss, his eyes were wide with wonder and joy. "Gabrielle," he said, "I love you."  
  
  
Gabrielle gazed back up at him, and smiled as she said "I love you, Joxer."  
  
  
In front of the inn, Xena crossed her arms and leaned against the building with a smile. "Not even your presence could get me down right now, Ares." she said to the air next to her. Ares flashed in with a grin.   
  
  
"Wanna bet?" he said. "Look," he started.  
  
  
"No you look," Xena interrupted. "I don't know why you did what you did, but for once it turned out okay, so let's not even go into explanations." Xena stared him down until his mouth shut, and she continued. "Also, I wanted to say thank you, for sticking by me in battle, and for releasing those kids. I can't help but feel that you had some sort of agenda here, but for whatever reason everything worked out for a change. So thank you." Xena looked back at her two friends embracing in the street, and said out of the corner of her mouth "Now go away, you're bothering me." She heard a flash, and smiled again.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
-end-  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
